- Professor Steffen Ducheyne
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science
Pleinlaan 2
B-1050 Brussels
Belgium
- Philosophy of Science, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, History of Physics, Newton, Isaac, Scientific Revolution, History of Experimentation, and 58 moreNewtonianism, Philosophy, 'S Gravesande, Eighteenth Century Studies, Henry Cavendish, William Whewell, History of Science, Scientific Models, Scientific Representation, Crypto-Spinozism, History of Scientific Methodology, Opticks, Tidology, Action at a Distance, Mill-Whewell Debate, Herman Boerhaave, Ruggiero Boscovich, Maupertuis, Gisbertus Voetius, Johannes Cocceius, Petrus van Musschenbroek, Bernard Picart, Prosper Marchand, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, Radical Enlightenment, Christian Wolff, Principle of Sufficient Reason, Scientific methodology, Methodology of Scientific Research, Philosophy of Science, Scientific Method, Integrated HPS, Bernard Nieuwentijt, Cartesianism, Physico-Theology, Argument from Design, Dutch Reformed Church, Eighteenth-Century Mechanics, Robert Fludd (Robertus de Fluctibus), History of Freemasonry, Jean Senebier, History of Scientific Observation, Early Modern Experiments, Scientific Experiments, Enlightenment Science, Eighteenth Century Science, Scientific Observation, Charles Bonnet, Louis Bertrand Castel, William Whiston, Charles Darwin, Giordano Bruno, Michael Maier, Adriaen Verwer, Scientiae, Aleister Crowley, Frances A. Yates, Philosophy of Pseudoscience, and Leiden Universityedit
- Welcome to my academic homepage. I mainly work in History and Philosophy of Science with a focus on seventeenth- to n... moreWelcome to my academic homepage. I mainly work in History and Philosophy of Science with a focus on seventeenth- to nineteenth-century scientific methodology, but on occasion I contribute to the History of Philosophy and the History of Ideas. I am currently exploring Isaac Newton's natural philosophy and its early eighteenth-century diffusion. My Academia page contains a selection of publications. Other publications are available upon request. My work has appeared in Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, Annals of Science, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Archives of Natural History, The British Journal for the History of Science, Centaurus, Early Science and Medicine, Enlightenment and Dissent, Erkenntnis, Foundations of Science, History and Philosophy of Logic, History of European Ideas, History of Science, HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society of Philosophy of Science, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Journal of Documentation, Journal of General Philosophy of Science, Journal of the History of Ideas, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Kant Studien, Knowledge Organization, Lias: Journal of Early Modern Intellectual Culture and its Sources, Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, Perspectives on Science, Science & Education, Science in Context, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, and Synthese amongst other journals.
Ik ben verbonden met het Centrum voor Logica en Wetenschapsfilosofie (https://clps.research.vub.be/en) binnen de opleiding Wijsbegeerte en Moraalwetenschappen. Ik promoveerde in 2006 aan de Universiteit Gent en ik heb tijdens mijn carrière verschillende studieverblijven doorgemaakt, o.m. aan de Department for History and Philosophy of Science aan de University of Cambridge (in 2006, 2008 en 2009), aan de Universiteit Leiden (o.m. als Scaliger-fellow in 2009), aan de Bibliothèque de Genève (2018) en aan het Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlijn (2017). In 2011 was ik laureaat van de Belgian American Educational Foundation Alumni Award in the Human Sciences, in 2014 laureaat van de Jan Gillis-prijs van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten voor mijn monografie “The main Business of Natural Philosophy:” Isaac Newton’s Natural-Philosophical Methodology (Dordrecht, Springer: 2012; URL=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400721258), en in 2016 laureaat van de Frans Van Cauwelaertsprijs van de KVAB.edit
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This is a non-copy-edited draft of a note forthcoming in Notes and Queries. Please quote from the published version.
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[The published version of this paper is available free of charge at the publisher’s website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1600-0498.12374.] In this article, we document how, in the public arena, British readers of the... more
[The published version of this paper is available free of charge at the publisher’s website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1600-0498.12374.]
In this article, we document how, in the public arena, British readers of the first edition of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687) tried to make sense of the relation between gravity, matter, and divine and natural causation—an issue on which Newton had remained entirely silent in the first edition of the Principia. We show that readers attached new meanings to the Principia so that parts of it migrated to a different intellectual debate. It will be shown that one particular result Newton obtained in the Principia, namely the rejection of a vacuum in Corollary 3 to Proposition 6 in Book 3, was the most important locus in debates on the relation between gravity, matter, and causation.
In this article, we document how, in the public arena, British readers of the first edition of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687) tried to make sense of the relation between gravity, matter, and divine and natural causation—an issue on which Newton had remained entirely silent in the first edition of the Principia. We show that readers attached new meanings to the Principia so that parts of it migrated to a different intellectual debate. It will be shown that one particular result Newton obtained in the Principia, namely the rejection of a vacuum in Corollary 3 to Proposition 6 in Book 3, was the most important locus in debates on the relation between gravity, matter, and causation.
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The published version of this paper is available free of charge at the publisher's website: https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/26/4/article-p341_3.xml?Tab%20Menu=article-metadata&ebody=pdf-49903.
Research Interests: History, Philosophy, Humanities, History of Science, Eighteenth-Century British History and Culture, and 8 moreNewton's method, Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica, Arts and Humanities, Newtonian Worldview, Newton's Methodology, Principia mathematica philosophiae naturalis, and Questiones to the Optice
In this essay, we document the development of five important methodological passages in Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) Queries to the Opticks and explore some of the reasons why he continuously revised and reformulated them. The Queries have... more
In this essay, we document the development of five important methodological passages in Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) Queries to the Opticks and explore some of the reasons why he continuously revised and reformulated them. The Queries have a complex and fascinating editorial history, appearing in both English and Latin forms. Here we analyse the extant manuscript material in relation to the published versions of Opticks (1704, 1717, 1721, and 1730) and Optice (1706 and 1719) and, additionally, to other relevant sources such as Newton’s ‘An Account of the Book Called Commercium epistolicum’ and Cambridge University Library, Add. Ms. 3970, f. 479r-v and f. 480v in which he addressed a number of principles of philosophy. More specifically, we analyse five passages in which Newton clarified his methodological views to his readers: in the first passage, he demarcated “the main Business of natural Philosophy” as arguing from phenomena without feigning hypotheses; in the second, he justified his frequent use of the word “attraction”; in the third, he briefly discussed under which conditions a property, especially hardness, can be considered universal; in the fourth, he defended his own method by refuting the view that gravity and other active principles are “occult Qualities”; and, finally, in the fifth, he described his own method in terms of analysis and composition (or synthesis). Based on our analyses of these passages, we are able to trace Newton’s changing methodological ideas from the early 1700s to 1717. Furthermore, we uncover how the erstwhile natural philosophical debates informed his writing of the Queries and what passages acted as precursors to his famous regulae philosophandi.
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In this article, we document how in the public arena British readers of the first edition of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687) tried to make sense of the relation between gravity, matter, and divine and... more
In this article, we document how in the public arena British readers of the first edition of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687) tried to make sense of the relation between gravity, matter, and divine and natural causation—an issue on which Newton had remained entirely silent in the first edition of the Principia. We show that readers attached new meanings to the Principia so that parts of it migrated to a different intellectual debate. It will be shown that one particular result Newton obtained in the Principia, namely the rejection of a vacuum in Corollary 3 to Proposition 6 in Book III, was the most important locus in debates on the relation between gravity, mater and causation.
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Research Interests: Intellectual History, Political Philosophy, Atheism, History of Ideas, Political Science, and 19 moreFrench Revolution, Historiography of the French Revolution, Eighteenth Century History, Enlightenment, Benedict de Spinoza, Secularization, History of Atheism, Baruch Spinoza, Enlightenment Political Thought, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, Early Enlinghtenment, the Enlightenment, French Enlightenment, Eighteenth Century Studies, Radical Enlightenment, History of Philosophy, The Age of Enlightenment, and Moderate Enlightenment
The Amsterdam-based merchant and mathematics enthusiast Adriaen Verwer (1654/5-1717) was one of the few in the Dutch Republic to respond to the first edition of Newton’s Principia (1687). Based on a close study of his published work, his... more
The Amsterdam-based merchant and mathematics enthusiast Adriaen Verwer (1654/5-1717) was one of the few in the Dutch Republic to respond to the first edition of Newton’s Principia (1687). Based on a close study of his published work, his correspondence with the Scottish mathematician and astronomer David Gregory (1659-1708), and his annotations in his own copy of the first edition of the Principia, I shall scrutinise the impact of Newton’s ideas on Verwer’s thinking. The proposed analysis, that will add nuance to earlier findings, also has broader implications for our understanding of the introduction of Newton’s ideas in the Dutch Republic, as will be shown.
Research Interests: History of Science, Benedict de Spinoza, Baruch Spinoza, Spinoza, 17th Century Dutch Republic, and 14 moreAmsterdam History, Isaac Newton, Spinozism, Mennonites, Christiaan Huygens, History of Philosophy, Spinoza's Ethics, Jean Le Clerc, Mennonite Brethren, Dutch Newtonianism, Principia mathematica philosophiae naturalis, Burchard de Volder, Johannes Hudde, and David Gregory
In this paper I will probe into Herman Boerhaave’s (1668–1738) appropriation of Isaac Newton’s natural philosophy. It will be shown that Newton’s work served multiple purposes in Boerhaave’s oeuvre for he appropriated Newton’s work... more
In this paper I will probe into Herman Boerhaave’s (1668–1738) appropriation of Isaac Newton’s natural philosophy. It will be shown that Newton’s work served multiple purposes in Boerhaave’s oeuvre for he appropriated Newton’s work differently in different context and in different episodes in his career. Three important episodes in and contexts of Boerhaave’s appropriation of Newton’s natural-philosophical ideas and methods will be considered: 1710–11, the time at which he gave his often neglected lectures on the place of physics in medicine, 1715, at which point he delivered his most famous rectorial address, and, finally, 1731/2, the moment in which his Elementa chemiae was published. Along the way, I will spell out the implications of Boerhaave’s case for the reception of Newton’s ideas more generally.
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, Intellectual History, History of Ideas, History of Medicine, History of Science, and 12 moreEnlightenment, 18th Century Philosophy, Newton, Isaac, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Dutch History, Isaac Newton, History of Chemistry, Newtonianism, Leiden University, Herman Boerhaave, 18th Century Dutch Republic, and Dutch Newtonianism
In this note, I explore the early and earliest uses of the English word 'Newtonian', both as adjective as well as noun.
Research Interests: History, History of Science and Technology, Intellectual History, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Early Modern History, and 15 moreHistory of Mathematics, History of Science, Eighteenth Century History, Early Modern Intellectual History, Newton, Isaac, Early Modern Science, Early Modern Philosophy, Encyclopedism, Isaac Newton, Oxford English Dictionary, Newtonianism, History of Philosophy, Newtonian Worldview, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, and Newtonian
According to the naturalist Charles Bonnet (1720-1793), an 'art of observing' was sorely needed to stimulate further progress in natural history. Although he never published on the subject, he proposed a prize question on the art of... more
According to the naturalist Charles Bonnet (1720-1793), an 'art of observing' was sorely needed to stimulate further progress in natural history. Although he never published on the subject, he proposed a prize question on the art of observing to the Dutch Society of Sciences in Haarlem of which he was a member. Jean Senebier (1742-1809), a pastor and librarian who later became a skilled observer in his own right, took part in this competition with an essay that formed the basis of a work on the art of observing that embodied and codified the advanced observational practices of the Genevan naturalists.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, History of Natural History, History of Science, Eighteenth Century History, and 15 moreEnlightenment, Biology, Natural History, Observation, Objectivity, Geneva, Scientific Observation, Charles Bonnet, Scientific Research, History of Objectivity, Observational Methodology, History of Geneva, Jean Senebier, art of observing, and l'art d'observer
In this article, we discuss the development of the concept of a 'law (of nature)' in the work of the Dutch natural philosopher and experimenter Petrus van Musschenbroek (1692-1761). Since van Musschenbroek is commonly described as one of... more
In this article, we discuss the development of the concept of a 'law (of nature)' in the work of the Dutch natural philosopher and experimenter Petrus van Musschenbroek (1692-1761). Since van Musschenbroek is commonly described as one of the first 'Newtonians' on the continent in the secondary literature, we focus more specifically on its relationship to Newton's views on this issue. Although he was certainly indebted to Newton for his thinking on laws (of nature), van Musschenbroek's views can be seen to diverge from Newton's on crucial points. We show moreover how his thinking on laws (of nature) was shaped by both international and local factors. We start with a brief discussion of Newton's concept of 'laws of nature' in order to set the stage for van Musschenbroek's. We then document the development of van Musschenbroek's views on laws (of nature) in chronological order. We demonstrate how his thinking on laws (of nature) was tied to institutional, theological, and scientific factors. We conclude by pointing to the broader significance of this case-study for our understanding of the development of the concept 'law of nature' during the eighteenth century.
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Research Interests: Physics, Philosophy of Science, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Gravitation, History of Science, and 15 moreHistory of Philosophy of Science, Science, Natural philosophy, Newton, Isaac, History of the Philosophy of Science, Gravity, Principia Mathematica, Sir Isaac Newton, Universal Gravitation, Newtonian Mechanics, History of Philosophy, Action at a Distance, Opticks, Newtonian Worldview, and Actio In Distans
This paper appeared in Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 65(2), 2010, pp. 181-227. Abstract: This article seeks to provide a historically well-informed analysis of an important post-Newtonian area of research in experimental... more
This paper appeared in Archive for History of Exact Sciences, vol. 65(2), 2010, pp. 181-227. Abstract: This article seeks to provide a historically well-informed analysis of an important post-Newtonian area of research in experimental physics between 1798 and 1898, namely the determination of the mean density of the earth and, by the end of the
nineteenth century, the gravitational constant. Traditionally, research on these matters is seen as a case of “puzzle solving.” In this article, the author shows that such focus does not do justice to the evidential significance of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century experimental research on the mean density of the earth and the gravitational constant. As Newton’s theory of universal gravitation was mainly based on astronomical observation, it remained to be shown that Newton’s law of universal gravitation did not break down at terrestrial distances. In this context, Cavendish’ experiment and related nineteenth-century experiments played a decisive role, for they provided converging and increasingly stronger evidence for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation.
More precisely, the author shall argue that, as the accuracy and precision of the experimental apparatuses and the procedures to eliminate external disturbances involved increasingly improved, the empirical support for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation improved correspondingly.
Note: Unfortunately, the reconstruction of the Cavendish experiment in this paper contains a mishap that does however not affect the overall argument of the paper. The error is corrected in Steffen Ducheyne, The Cavendish experiment as a tool for historical understanding of science, Science & Education 21(1), 2012, pp 87-108 (https://www.academia.edu/2524605/The_Cavendish_experiment_as_a_tool_for_historical_understanding_of_science).
nineteenth century, the gravitational constant. Traditionally, research on these matters is seen as a case of “puzzle solving.” In this article, the author shows that such focus does not do justice to the evidential significance of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century experimental research on the mean density of the earth and the gravitational constant. As Newton’s theory of universal gravitation was mainly based on astronomical observation, it remained to be shown that Newton’s law of universal gravitation did not break down at terrestrial distances. In this context, Cavendish’ experiment and related nineteenth-century experiments played a decisive role, for they provided converging and increasingly stronger evidence for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation.
More precisely, the author shall argue that, as the accuracy and precision of the experimental apparatuses and the procedures to eliminate external disturbances involved increasingly improved, the empirical support for the universality of Newton’s theory of gravitation improved correspondingly.
Note: Unfortunately, the reconstruction of the Cavendish experiment in this paper contains a mishap that does however not affect the overall argument of the paper. The error is corrected in Steffen Ducheyne, The Cavendish experiment as a tool for historical understanding of science, Science & Education 21(1), 2012, pp 87-108 (https://www.academia.edu/2524605/The_Cavendish_experiment_as_a_tool_for_historical_understanding_of_science).
Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Gravitation, Science Education, History of Science, Science, and 34 moreNewton, Isaac, History of scientific instruments, Thomas S. Kuhn, Scientific methodology, Gravity, Methodology of Scientific Research, Philosophy of Science, Newton's method, Scientific Knowledge; Knowledge Management, Scientific Method, Gravitational constant, Gravity; Inverse Square Law; Newton, Scientific Research, Universal Gravitation, Scientific Knowledge, Newtonian Mechanics, Henry Cavendish, History of Scientific Methodology, Science and Scientific method, History and Philosophy of Science, History and Philosophy of Scientific Method, Principia mathematica philosophiae naturalis, Francis Baily, Marie-Alfred Cornu, Jean-Baptistin Baille, Ferdinand Reich, G.B. Airy, Robert von Sterneck, Philipp J. G. von Jolly, John Henry Poynting, Charles Vernon Boys, Carl Braun, Franz Richarz, Otto Krigar-Menzel, and Johannes Wilsing
According to a dominant view in the scholarly literature, Musschenbroek is to be considered a follower of Newton’s methodology, i.e. as a natural philosopher who, although he occasionally departed from Newton’s doctrines, aligned himself... more
According to a dominant view in the scholarly literature, Musschenbroek is to be considered a follower of Newton’s methodology, i.e. as a natural philosopher who, although he occasionally departed from Newton’s doctrines, aligned himself to Newton’s methodological views. Few scholars have, however, explained in full detail what it means to claim that Musschenbroek followed Newton’s method. The purpose of this essay is to get more grip on this matter.
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, History of Biology (History), History of Science, and 36 moreHistory and Philosophy of Physics, 18th Century Philosophy, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, History of Physics, History of Biology, Newton, Isaac, 17th and 18th century Philosophy, Descartes, René, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, Analogy (Philosophy), 17th Century Dutch Republic, 18th Century, Descartes, Scientific methodology, Parthenogenesis, Methodology of Scientific Research, Philosophy of Science, Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, Scientific Method, Newtonianism, History of Philosophy, Philosophy and history of science, History of Scientific Methodology, Leiden University, History of Biological Sciences, History and Philosophy of Science, Johann Friedrich Gronovius, Petrus van Musschenbroek, Dutch Newtonianism, Reception of Isaac Newton, Regulae Philosophandi, Rules of Philosophizing, Bernard Nieuwentijt, Jan Frederik Gronov(ius) (1686-1762), and John Turberville Needham (1713-1781)
This chapter touches on various elements of the reception of Isaac Newton’s ideas in the Netherlands, in particular on three strands in the reception of the Principia. The first is the use, by a group of Amsterdam mathematicians including... more
This chapter touches on various elements of the reception of Isaac Newton’s ideas in the Netherlands, in particular on three strands in the reception of the Principia. The first is the use, by a group of Amsterdam mathematicians including Bernard Nieuwentijt, of several of Newton’s theological ideas in order to combat Spinoza’s system. Second is Herman Boerhaave’s rather superficial use of Newton’s epistemological statements, which led Boerhaave to claim that Newton’s method would end controversies in science and ward off scepticism. Third are W.J. ’s Gravesande and Petrus van Musschenbroek, the most famous “Newtonians” of the Netherlands, who used certain themes of Newton in order to develop their own theories of knowledge. Taken together, these three strands show that Newton’s ideas were appropriated and developed in many different ways in the Netherlands. Differences and agreements between the strands can shed new light on the development of “Newtonianism” in the Netherlands.
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, Intellectual History, Physics, Mechanics, Philosophy of Science, and 14 moreHistory of Ideas, Methodology, History of Science, History of Philosophy of Science, Newton, Isaac, Inference, Scientific Inference, Scientific methodology, Rules, Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica, History of Philosophy, Regulae, and Regulae Philosophandi
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, Philosophy of Science, Gravitation, Science Education, History of Science, and 13 moreScience, History of Physics, Nature of Science, Elementary Science Education, History and philosophy of science (History), Scientific methodology, Gravity, Scientific Method, Gravitational constant, Universal Gravitation, Henry Cavendish, History of Scientific Methodology, and History and Philosophy of Scientific Method
Abstract. In this paper, I take up the question to what extent and in which sense we can conceive of Johannes Baptista Van Helmont's (1579-1644) style of experimenting as modern. Connected to this question, I shall reflect upon... more
Abstract. In this paper, I take up the question to what extent and in which sense we can conceive of Johannes Baptista Van Helmont's (1579-1644) style of experimenting as modern. Connected to this question, I shall reflect upon what Van Helmont's precise contribution to ...
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Abstract: Newton's immensely famous, but tersely written, General Scholium is primarily known for its reference to the argument of design and Newton's famous dictum hypotheses non fingo. In the essay at hand, I shall argue... more
Abstract: Newton's immensely famous, but tersely written, General Scholium is primarily known for its reference to the argument of design and Newton's famous dictum hypotheses non fingo. In the essay at hand, I shall argue that this text served a variety of goals and try to ...
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In this paper, I point to the importance of an often neglected objectivist strand in Paul Otlet's(1868-1944) thinking: his linguistic objectivism. Linguistic objectivism consists in the view that linguistic atoms uniquely correspond... more
In this paper, I point to the importance of an often neglected objectivist strand in Paul Otlet's(1868-1944) thinking: his linguistic objectivism. Linguistic objectivism consists in the view that linguistic atoms uniquely correspond to certain discrete and well-defined ...
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Van Helmont's work was of major importance in seventeenth-century medicine, chymistry and natural philosophy. His work was a source of inspiration and mystery and an authoritas. His oeuvre was, together with that of many... more
Van Helmont's work was of major importance in seventeenth-century medicine, chymistry and natural philosophy. His work was a source of inspiration and mystery and an authoritas. His oeuvre was, together with that of many others, the culminating point of an ongoing process, starting in the Middle Ages, of turning medicine into a scientific discipline. In this essay, the appropriation, that is, the process of assimilation of an author's work by other scholars, of Van Helmont's oeuvre in England will be studied among chymists, physicians and natural philosophers (the distinctions between these three groups is primarily conceptual, but in practice hard to distinguish). Appropriation reminds us that the process of assimilating ideas of an author by contemporaries or later generations is not a passive activity, for scholars actively adapt and interpret them in new ways not initially envisaged by its original author.
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In this essay the authors explore the nature of efficiënt causal explanation in Newton’s Principia and The Opticks. It is argued that: (1) In the dynamical explanations of the Principia, Newton treats the phenomena under study as cases... more
In this essay the authors explore the nature of efficiënt causal
explanation in Newton’s Principia and The Opticks. It is argued that:
(1) In the dynamical explanations of the Principia, Newton treats the
phenomena under study as cases of Hall’s second kind of atypical cau-
sation. The underlying concept of causation is therefore a purely in-
terventionist one.
(2) In the descriptions of his optical experiments, Newton treats the phe-
nomena under study as cases of Hall’s typical causation. The underly-
ing concept of causation is therefore a mixed interventionist/mechani-
cist one.
explanation in Newton’s Principia and The Opticks. It is argued that:
(1) In the dynamical explanations of the Principia, Newton treats the
phenomena under study as cases of Hall’s second kind of atypical cau-
sation. The underlying concept of causation is therefore a purely in-
terventionist one.
(2) In the descriptions of his optical experiments, Newton treats the phe-
nomena under study as cases of Hall’s typical causation. The underly-
ing concept of causation is therefore a mixed interventionist/mechani-
cist one.
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I William Whewell's philosophical, historical and scientific endeavors have in recent years regained scholarly interest: a new facsimile edition of his collected work, edited by Richard Yeo, appeared in 2001 and between 2005 and 2008... more
I William Whewell's philosophical, historical and scientific endeavors have in recent years regained scholarly interest: a new facsimile edition of his collected work, edited by Richard Yeo, appeared in 2001 and between 2005 and 2008 three monographs on Whewell were published in ...
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The illustrations from personal papers of Paul Otlet (Papiers Personnels Paul Otlet) are reproduced with the permission of the Mundaneum, 15 Rues Passages, B-700 Mons, Belgium (www.mundaneum.be). The author is highly indebted to Stéphanie... more
The illustrations from personal papers of Paul Otlet (Papiers Personnels Paul Otlet) are reproduced with the permission of the Mundaneum, 15 Rues Passages, B-700 Mons, Belgium (www.mundaneum.be). The author is highly indebted to Stéphanie Manfroid, the Director ...
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Abstract In this paper an analysis of Newton's argument for universal gravitation is provided. In the past, the complexity of the argument has not been fully appreciated. Recent authors like George E. Smith and William L. Harper have... more
Abstract In this paper an analysis of Newton's argument for universal gravitation is provided. In the past, the complexity of the argument has not been fully appreciated. Recent authors like George E. Smith and William L. Harper have done a far better job. Nevertheless, a ...
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Research Interests: Information Science, Dewey Decimal System, Dissemination of Scientific Research & Technological Innovation, History of Library and Information Science, Internationalism, and 6 moreEncyclopedism, Encyclopaedias, subject classification, publishing industry, Classification, Paul Otlet, Mundaneum, and Dewey Decimal Classification
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In this essay, we provide a thematic editorial history of the theological and religious statements in the Queries/Quaestiones to the Opticks/Optice. Based on our editorial history, we document and discuss a number of important changes in... more
In this essay, we provide a thematic editorial history of the theological and religious statements in the Queries/Quaestiones to the Opticks/Optice. Based on our editorial history, we document and discuss a number of important changes in Isaac Newton's theological thought.
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Like many of their contemporaries Bernard Nieuwentijt (1654–1718) and Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761) were baffled by the heterodox conclusions which Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) drew in the Ethics. As the full title of the Ethics –... more
Like many of their contemporaries Bernard Nieuwentijt (1654–1718) and Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761) were baffled by the heterodox conclusions which Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) drew in the Ethics. As the full title of the Ethics – Ethica ordine geometrico demonstrata – indicates, these conclusions were purportedly demonstrated in a geometrical order, i.e. by means of pure mathematics. First, I highlight how Nieuwentijt tried to immunize Spinoza’s worrisome conclusions by insisting on the distinction between pure and mixed mathematics. Next, I argue that the anti-Spinozist underpinnings of Nieuwentijt’s distinction between pure and mixed mathematics resurfaced in the work of van Musschenbroek. By insisting on the distinction between pure and mixed mathematics, Nieuwentijt and van Musschenbroek argued that Spinoza abused mathematics by making claims about things that exist in rerum natura by relying on a pure mathematical approach (type 1 abuse). In addition, by insisting that mixed mathematics should be painstakingly based on mathematical ideas that correspond to nature, van Musschenbroek argued that René Descartes’ (1596–1650) natural-philosophical project (and that of others who followed his approach) abused mathematics by introducing hypotheses, i.e. (mathematical) ideas, that do not correspond to nature (type 2 abuse).
Research Interests: History, History of Science and Technology, Intellectual History, History of Science, Eighteenth Century History, and 13 moreEnlightenment, Benedict de Spinoza, Baruch Spinoza, Spinoza, History and philosophy of science (History), Benedictus Spinoza, Isaac Newton, History and Philosphy of Science, Newtonianism, History of Philosophy, Spínoza, Petrus van Musschenbroek, and Bernard Nieuwentijt
Baruch Spinoza's (1632–77) Tractatus theologico-politicus (1669/70) caused outrage across the Dutch Republic, for it obliterated the carefully installed separation between philosophy and theology. The posthumous publication of Spinoza's... more
Baruch Spinoza's (1632–77) Tractatus theologico-politicus (1669/70) caused outrage across the Dutch Republic, for it obliterated the carefully installed separation between philosophy and theology. The posthumous publication of Spinoza's Ethica, which is contained in his Opera posthuma (1677), caused similar consternation. It was especially the mathematical order in which the Ethica was composed that caused fierce opposition, for its mathematical appearance gave the impression that Spinoza's heretical teachings were established demonstratively. In this essay, I shall document how the Dutch physician, local politician, and amateur mathematician and experimenter Bernard Nieuwentijt (1654–1718) attempted to physico-mathematically and methodologically counter the threats posed by Spinoza's programme. Nieuwentijt tried to defend the authority of the Scriptures in times in which they came under attack by the new philosophy and the emerging sciences that were gradually winning terrain. The crux of his defence consisted in delineating a modest epistemology, a 'learned ignorance', that would cure the followers' of Spinoza of their pansophical aspirations, on the one hand, and remove the conflict between the Bible and reason, on the other. The specific way in which he sought to accomplish this distinguished him from Dutch Reformed thought.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT: As a supplement to John L. Heilbron's account, I will argue that, although the label 'experimental physics' can be rightfully used to describe aspects of Petrus van Musschenbroek's (1692-1761) work, the latter's understanding of... more
ABSTRACT: As a supplement to John L. Heilbron's account, I will argue that, although the label 'experimental physics' can be rightfully used to describe aspects of Petrus van Musschenbroek's (1692-1761) work, the latter's understanding of 'physica' is to be situated within a broader framework in which theological, philosophical and teleological considerations continued to play an important role. First, I will draw attention to Musschenbroek's views on the scope of physica and especially to his conception of a law of nature. It will be shown that by radicalizing certain aspects of Isaac Newton's methodological ideas van Musschenbroek no longer considered physics as the discipline that uncovered causes from effects, as Newton did, but as the discipline that studies the effects of unknown causes. In addition, I will show that van Musschenbroek endorsed the view that the laws of nature are contingent on God's free will and that they are knowable due to his goodness. Second, it will be argued that for van Musschenbroek physics, alongside with teleology, had clear physico-theological repercussions. Along the way, van Musschenbroek's views on the principle of sufficient reason will be discussed for the first time.
Research Interests: Experimental philosophy, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Science, 18th Century Philosophy, Natural philosophy, and 9 moreTeleology, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Principle of Sufficient Reason, Isaac Newton, Newtonianism, History of Philosophy, The Principle of Sufficient Reason, Petrus van Musschenbroek, and Dutch Newtonianism
In this essay, I will bring several hitherto neglected sources, which pertain to Petrus van Musschenbroek’s (1692-1762) unpublished manuscripts, to the fore. The folios at hand show that Musschenbroek read and actively engaged with... more
In this essay, I will bring several hitherto neglected sources, which pertain to Petrus van Musschenbroek’s (1692-1762) unpublished manuscripts, to the fore. The folios at hand show that Musschenbroek read and actively engaged with Spinoza’s (1632-1677) Ethica. More precisely, it will be shown that Musschenbroek held clear-cut anti-Spinozistic convictions.
[This is a pre-print of a forthcoming paper in Lias, Journal of Early Modern Intellectual Culture and its Sources, vol. 42(2), pp. 173-197.]
[This is a pre-print of a forthcoming paper in Lias, Journal of Early Modern Intellectual Culture and its Sources, vol. 42(2), pp. 173-197.]
Research Interests: Intellectual History, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, History of Science, Benedict de Spinoza, and 18 moreBaruch Spinoza, Early Modern Science, Spinoza, Early Modern Philosophy, Benedictus Spinoza, Eighteenth Century Science, Eighteenth-century philosophy, John Toland, Newtonianism, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, History of Philosophy, Spinoza's Ethics, Leiden University, 'S Gravesande, Spínoza, Petrus van Musschenbroek, Dutch Newtonianism, and Willem Jacob ’s Gravesande
Research Interests: 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Science, History of Philosophy of Science, 18th Century Philosophy, Newton, Isaac, and 15 moreEarly Modern Science, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Early Modern Philosophy, Scientific methodology, Isaac Newton, Eighteenth Century Science, Scientific Method, Eighteenth-century philosophy, Newtonianism, History of Scientific Methodology, 'S Gravesande, History and Philosophy of Scientific Method, Dutch Newtonianism, and Reception of Isaac Newton
Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, History of Science, History of Philosophy of Science, History of the Philosophy of Science, Consilience, and 12 moreScientific methodology, Methodology of Scientific Research, Philosophy of Science, Big Data, Scientific Knowledge; Knowledge Management, Scientific Method, Kantianism, History of Philosophy, William Whewell, Tidology, History of Scientific Methodology, History and Philosophy of Science, and Prediction of new phenomena
Research Interests: 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, History of Ideas, History of Philosophy of Science, 18th Century Philosophy, Newton, Isaac, and 15 moreEarly Modern Science, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Early Modern Philosophy, Eighteenth Century Science, Eighteenth-century philosophy, Newtonianism, History of Philosophy, 'S Gravesande, Crypto-Spinozism, Dutch Newtonianism, Reception of Isaac Newton, Willem Jacob ’s Gravesande, Eighteenth-century physics, Eighteenth-century physics, and Eighteent-century philosophy
Reassessing the Radical Enlightenment comprises fifteen new essays by a team of international scholars that re-evaluates the characteristics, meaning and impact of the Radical Enlightenment. This collection examines aspects of the Radical... more
Reassessing the Radical Enlightenment comprises fifteen new essays by a team of international scholars that re-evaluates the characteristics, meaning and impact of the Radical Enlightenment. This collection examines aspects of the Radical Enlightenment between 1660 and 1825, spanning England, Ireland, the Dutch Republic, France, Germany and the Americas. In addition to dealing with canonical authors and celebrated texts such as Spinoza and his Tractatus theologico-politicus, authors discuss many less well-known figures and debates from the period. Divided into three parts, this book:
• Considers the Radical Enlightenment movement as a whole, including its defining features and characteristics and the history of the term itself.
• Traces the origins and events of the Radical Enlightenment, including in-depth analyses of key figures including Spinoza, Toland, Meslier, and d’Holbach.
• Examines the outcomes and consequences of the Radical Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas in the eighteenth century. Chapters in this section examine later figures whose ideas can be traced to the Radical Enlightenment, concluding with three chapters examining the role of the period in the emergence of egalitarianism.
This collection of essays is the first stand-alone collection of studies in English on the Radical Enlightenment. It is a timely and comprehensive overview of current research in the field while presenting new studies and research on the Radical Enlightenment.
• Considers the Radical Enlightenment movement as a whole, including its defining features and characteristics and the history of the term itself.
• Traces the origins and events of the Radical Enlightenment, including in-depth analyses of key figures including Spinoza, Toland, Meslier, and d’Holbach.
• Examines the outcomes and consequences of the Radical Enlightenment in Europe and the Americas in the eighteenth century. Chapters in this section examine later figures whose ideas can be traced to the Radical Enlightenment, concluding with three chapters examining the role of the period in the emergence of egalitarianism.
This collection of essays is the first stand-alone collection of studies in English on the Radical Enlightenment. It is a timely and comprehensive overview of current research in the field while presenting new studies and research on the Radical Enlightenment.
Research Interests: History, American History, Modern History, Intellectual History, Philosophy, and 34 moreHumanities, Early Modern History, History of Religion, French Revolution, Historiography of the French Revolution, Eighteenth Century History, Enlightenment, Intellectual History of Enlightenment, Benedict de Spinoza, Modernity, Secularization, History of Political Thought, American Revolution, Baruch Spinoza, Secularisms and Secularities, Jean Meslier, Enlightenment Political Thought, European Enlightenment, D'holbach, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, Counter-Enlightenment, Marquis De Sade, Secularism, Eighteenth Century Radical Enlightenment, the Enlightenment, Lumières françaises, French Enlightenment, Eighteenth Century Studies, Radical Enlightenment, History of Philosophy, Histoire Intellectuelle Et Sociale Des Lumières, The Age of Enlightenment, Moderate Enlightenment, and Horkheimer Max Adorno Theodor W Dialectic of Enlightenment Philosophical Fragments
In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton’s methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical... more
In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton’s methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical methodology which encompasses procedures to minimize inductive risk during the process of theory formation and which, thereby, surpasses a standard hypothetico-deductive methodological setting. Accordingly, it will be highlighted that the so-called ‘Newtonian Revolution’ was not restricted to the empirical and theoretical dimensions of science, but applied equally to the methodological dimension of science. Furthermore, it will be documented that Newton’s methodology was far from static and that it developed alongside with his scientific work. Attention will be paid not only to the successes of Newton’s innovative methodology, but equally to its tensions and limitations. Based on a thorough study of Newton’s extant manuscripts, this monograph will address and contextualize, inter alia, Newton’s causal realism, his views on action at a distance and space and time, the status of efficient causation in the Principia, the different phases of his methodology, his treatment of force and the constituents of the physico-mathematical models in the context of Book I of the Principia, the analytic part of the argument for universal gravitation, the meaning and significance of his regulae philosophandi, the methodological differences between his mechanical and optical work, and, finally, the the interplay between Newton’s theology and his natural philosophy.
Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Research Methods and Methodology, Methodology, History of Science, Science, and 32 moreEarly Modern Science and Philosophy, Newton, Isaac, Nature of Science, Theology and Science, Early Modern Science, Early Modern Philosophy, Scientific methodology, Western Esotericism, Newton's method, History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Principia Mathematica, Seventeenth Century Science, Sir Isaac Newton, Scientific Method, Scientific Research, History of Early Modern Science, Newtonian Mechanics, Opticks, History of Scientific Methodology, Newtonian Worldview, Early Modern Intellectual History and the History of Ideas, Newton's Theology, Laws of Motion, History and Philosophy of Scientific Method, Isaac Newton and esotericism, Hypothetico-Deductive Method, Principia mathematica philosophiae naturalis, I. Bernard Cohen, Newtonian Style, Regulae Philosophandi, Rules of Philosophizing, and General Scholium
Review of Paul Wood's Thomas Reid on Mathematics and Natural
Philosophy for Annals of Science.
Philosophy for Annals of Science.